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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202-219-8211.
Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich said the immigration bill
being considered today by the House Judiciary Committee fails to protect
high-skilled American workers from low-wage, foreign competition.
He reiterated his call for reform of the temporary foreign
worker program, called H-1B, so that no U.S. workers could lose their jobs to
temporary foreign worker replacements.
"It should be against the law for any employer to lay off
a U.S. worker to make room for a temporary foreign worker," Reich said.
"Anything less than that will leave thousands of critical U.S. jobs at
risk."
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to continue
marking up its immigration bill today. Reich urged its members to include
provisions he has recommended to protect high-skilled American jobs.
In testimony before the Senate and House, Reich and the
labor department have recommended three changes to the current H-1B statutes.
First, the law must be reformed to prevent any U.S. firm from firing or laying
off a U.S. worker in order to replace that worker with a temporary foreign
worker. Secondly, all U.S. companies hiring temporary foreign workers must be
required to make efforts to recruit and retain U.S. workers first. Finally,
Reich has asked that Congress shorten the length of the temporary worker visa
to three years from the current six.
"In its current form, the temporary foreign worker program
has been turned into a sham," Reich said. "Highly skilled American workers are
the victims. Today, too many companies are reaping huge profits from exploiting
foreign workers and laying off skilled American workers."
The House committee legislation currently includes a
measure designed to stem H-1B abuses. But Reich said that measure does not go
far enough to end the importation of H-1B workers. The House committee proposal
would require that employers pay foreign workers 110 percent of the prevailing
wage for the occupation they would be entering. The purpose is to end the
low-wage incentive for bringing in temporary foreign workers.
But Reich says even with the premium as a penalty, no U.S.
company should be given the option of replacing a U.S. worker with a temporary
foreign worker. Instead, U.S. firms should be encouraged to improve the skills
of American workers.
"This measure does not address the fundamental problem of
H-1B," Reich said. "Essentially, this bill will allow employers to purchase a
license to lay off U.S. workers by paying a premium to temporary foreign
workers.
"A U.S. employer could still lay off U.S. workers and
replace them with H-1B workers. I simply do not believe that this is right. An
employer in this country not only does not have to test the domestic labor
market for the availability of qualified U.S. workers before gaining access to
them, but is actually able to lay off U.S. workers to replace them with
temporary foreign workers. This is exactly what is happening now. Our public
policy tolerates it, perhaps encourages it. This must change."
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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